Staff volunteering locally

Our Civic Days initiative supports and encourages Goldsmiths colleagues to volunteer with local organisations.

Primary page content

All Goldsmiths staff are entitled to three days of paid leave a year to volunteer. This volunteering can be with any organisation of their choice, but we particularly encourage staff to take Civic Days – using their time to volunteer locally in the borough of Lewisham and South East London.

Our commitment to Lewisham

In 2021, Goldsmiths launched a Civic University Agreement to significantly enhance the role that the college plays as a committed, socially engaged anchor institution. By volunteering within the London Borough of Lewisham or the wider local area, staff can take an active role in shaping our Civic Strategy and make a real difference in our local community.

We’re proud to call Lewisham our home. This latest initiative is an explicit invitation to all of our colleagues to consider how their time and talents could benefit the wider community.

Professor Frances Corner, Warden of Goldsmiths

Civic Days so far

To date, Goldsmiths staff have been rolling up their sleeves and getting involved with everything from river clean ups to food banks, mental health charities to local festivals and community events. Our staff have a huge array of skills to offer and have been getting involved in a wide variety of good causes across Lewisham and beyond.

As one member of staff who volunteered in 2023 put it, "This helps us to connect in ways we would normally not connect with some parts of the community. It helps us develop and sustain our environmental, social and governance impact in our community and to understand the various ways in which we could help make the community better".